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Hillside Hardware Imposter Website - Counterfeit Water Filter Scam

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Hillside Hardware Imposter Website - Counterfeit Water Filter Scam Reports & Reviews (1)

- Mount Pleasant, SC, USA • Feb 07, 2024
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I was trying to buy a water filter for my GE refrigerator back on 1/23/2024. The filter I needed and bought, which should include an RFID chip, was a GE RPWFE. The "E" designation means it has the RFID chip. I bought 2 filters for $49.98, which is about 1/2 of the typical price. I paid through PayPal with my **** **** ***** After purchasing the filters on their website (hillsidefiltershop.com), I got an email receipt with a tracking link. The tracking link worked for the first time I clicked it, then any subsequent clicks it would give me this error: "We have found some suspicious activity in this client's account and this link had been blocked for your safety. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you think the link is safe, please contact the sender of the email." Note: the text is exact, spelling error and all. This got me worried, so I replied to the email that had the receipt and tracking info, and initially got no response for about a day. This got me even more suspicious and made me feel like I was scammed. I notified my credit card company to dispute the charge of $49.98. Not long after I disputed the charge, I received an email from Hillsidefilter saying they apologized for any inconvenience and to assure me the order was on the way. This made me feel a little better. They included another tracking link and the actual tracking number. Again the link worked once, then I got the error listed above. However, this time I had the USPS tracking number, and I was able to use that to track the package. A little more than 2 weeks later, the 2 filters finally arrived. I opened the package and was excited to see that they appeared to be the right ones and were genuine GE RPWFE filters. Being a "nice guy", I called back my credit card company to un-dispute the charge, since I received my order. The next evening, I tried installing one of the filters, and it wouldn't work. I tried for over 2 hours to get it to work with no luck. I sent an email to Hillsidefilter telling them the filter would not work and that maybe there was a faulty chip. There reply, which was just early this morning (2/7/2024), was that they were sorry for the confusion and that NONE of their filters have the RFID chips, in order to keep the price down for customers! This now got me quite angry, since the RPWFE designation means it DOES have the chip. At this point, I called **** **** back to tell them that I want to dispute the charge again and then gave them all of the details of the case. Hillsidefilter's solution for no RFID chip (sent in an email, complete with a Youtube link) was to cut the chip out of the current water filter and put in on the one from them, which is a pretty common, but difficult "hack". I was not willing to do. I then sent an email that this type of sales tactic is basically fraudulent, and that NO WHERE on their website (hillsidefiltershop.com) did they disclose that there GE RPWFE filters have no chips. I even called GE to see if it was possible to have a RPWFE filter without a chip. GE said "no". Somehow, Hillsidefilter was able to create a perfect counterfeit filter, complete with a GE box, labels, etc. The last correspondence was also today (2/7/2024), where they offered me a 60% refund, and that this was a good deal, and I should take. I responded that it appeared the filters were counterfeit and that I should get a 100% refund. No response to that has been received as of this report. I strongly believe that this company needs to be investigated, and even shutdown. I don't think anyone should go through the stress that I went through for nearly 3 weeks.

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